Stoystown couple says pond was drained by contractor working on Flight 93 memorial

September 06, 2012|VICKI ROCK | Daily American Staff Writer

Roger Vogel

George and Eileen Lasure of Stoystown are frustrated by a lack of action aftertheir pond was drained by contractors working at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

"It's been over a year and nothing's been done," Eileen Lasure said in a telephone interview.

George Lasure said that the land off Johnson Bottom Road near the new entrance to the memorial is not their primary residence. There is a pond on that property where he fished with his children.

"My oldest daughter loved to fish," he said. "We lost Brianna in a car wreck on Nov. 27, 2008. This is a place I go to reflect about Brianna and to think about her."

Brianna Lasure, 29, had a master's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She was a computer science teacher and cheerleading coach at Pequea Valley High School near Reading.

Lasure had stopped on the property one morning to think about Brianna.

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"I noticed my pond was really, really low," he said. "I thought there was a hole in it or something."

But witnesses told the Lasures that tankers were at the pond, draining it. He believes that water from the pond was mixed with seed mulch for hydroseeding at the memorial.

Three months after the Lasures noticed the problem, an engineer estimated that the pond was 60,000 gallons lower than it had been. And that was after a rainy spell. A fish biologist told them the pond, which was 7 feet deep in some places, had gone so low that the water heated and killed the fish. The loss is estimated between $10,000 and $15,000. He hadn't considered filing a claim under his homeowners' insurance because he thought the problem was being worked out with the contractor.

The Lasures filed a civil lawsuit in Somerset County court about a year ago. It is in the initial discovery phase.

"We were hopeful it would be worked out," George Lasure said. "We met with some contractors and at first we thought it would be taken care of. Then they said it was an honest mistake and nothing would be done. It wasn't a mistake. They drove through two or three no trespassing signs."

Barbara Sardella, vice president and general counsel for Kinsley Construction Inc., York, the memorial contractor, sent the following statement in an email: "It is our understanding that Mr. and Mrs. George Lasure claim that their pond was drained without their permission. This matter does not involve a dispute with us, but rather one between Mr. and Mrs. Lasure and the landscape contractor, Arrow Wallace Pancher (Joint Venture). It is our current understanding that the parties involved are working towards an amicable resolution that would more than fully compensate the Lasures for any damages they allegedly sustained."

Arrow Wallace Pancher Joint Venture did not immediately answer a request for comment.

National Park Service Superintendent Jeff Reinbold emailed a comment from Lindy Allen at the Denver Service Center of the National Park Service, the construction contracting office.

"The National Park Service is aware that water from one of the Lasures' ponds may have been mistakenly used by a subcontractor during landscaping for the Flight 93 National Memorial. While this issue is a private matter between the landowner and the subcontractor, the NPS has been and continues to monitor the situation. It is the NPS understanding that the parties involved are working toward a mutually-agreeable solution."

The Lasures said their attorney told them that Somerset County District Attorney Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser said that she was reviewing information that her office had. Lazzari-Strasiser could not be reached for comment.

Thursday afternoon Lasure said he heard from a staffer at U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster's Somerset office who said they put two formal requests in to the National Park Service, but hadn't received an answer.

"Nobody will explain what happened," Lasure said. "We're beginning to think it's a conspiracy. Everyone is covering for everyone else."

They hadn't planned on going to the news media, Eileen Lasure said, but when nothing was resolved in a year they felt their hands were tied.

"Our attorney said they are making it difficult and expensive for us in the hopes we'll just go away," her husband said.